Scott O'Neil
Running two professional sports teams has its ups and downs. For Scott O’Neil, who in the last 12 months has been named the CEO of both the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team and the New Jersey Devils hockey team, it means the chance to work with a new ownership group flush with cash.
Of course, when neither team makes the playoffs — it generally means you have a lot of explaining to do to fans. In this case, those fans happen to be spread out over two of North America's largest media markets. But the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League are leagues where bad seasons lead to great draft picks, and great draft picks can literally turn around a program overnight.
The former President of Madison Square Garden New York (where he oversaw three teams) was hired to run the 76ers in July, about two years after an investment group led by private equity manager Josh Harris bought the team from Comcast-Spectacor. In August, Harris and his investors also purchased the New Jersey Devils and the operating rights for Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The deal led to the departure of Rich Krezwick, and O’Neil was eventually chosen to replace him as the head of Devils Entertainment. He’s now running two teams, splitting his time between Philadelphia and New York, all while raising three daughters with his wife, Lisa.
“It’s either the most terrifying or exhilarating experience one can have,” he said, “and it’s definitely unique. Not many people get to do something like this.”
From a team performance standpoint, the results have been interesting. The 76ers went 19-63 and lost a record-breaking 26 games straight, but the poor outcome meant the 76ers were guaranteed a top five draft pick and a second best chance of winning the lottery for number one pick. As for the Devils, they missed the playoffs for the second time in a row and O’Neil said he’s busy working on a long-term plan to not only turn the team around, but continue developing Newark as a world-class entertainment destination.
"We’re introducing a very aggressive booking strategy and we are willing to take on much more risk, especially with our new hard-charging staff,” said O’Neil. Among the 85 new hires planned for the team and arena (which currently employs 72 people full time) are newly-appointed VP Marilyn Hauser, former booker and talent buyer for Palace Sports and Entertainment in Detroit. Her husband, Dan Hauser (also a former Palace employee) was hired as senior vice president of corporate sponsorships for the 76ers.
“Marilyn is a well-respected, hard-charging hunter,” O’Neil said. “We’re giving her the chance to take a lot more risk in the market, and even buy some shows directly. It means that we don’t have to be dependent on AEG or Live Nation. After all, New York is a highly competitive market with four major buildings. You have to do everything you can to get shows.”
The building’s biggest show since the takeover — a March 1 George Strait date that grossed $1.6 million — "pretty much proved that New Jersey is a great country market," O'Neil said.
O’Neil is also shaking things up in other parts of Prudential Center, putting its concessions contract out to bid after signing a short-term deal with Aramark in January 2013. Next on his list is to hire an analytics team to improve on-ice performance, and build a world-class CRM system aimed at reaching 7.1 million people in two years.
“We’ve got to elevate every spoke on the wheel because there are really incredible opportunities here,” said O’Neil. “This is one of the wealthiest states in the country, there are 21 Fortune 500 companies in the Newark area alone and over $1 billion has been invested in the city in the last five years.”
O’Neil said he wants to see the building more integrated into the community, especially with the hundreds of investment banks, private equity firms and financial institutions within a short drive of Newark. For a long time the building was seen as “the castle on the hill” and O’Neil said he’s working to change the culture so “it’s more like Cheers when Norm walks through the door.”
A lot of those changes come through instilling a new sense of customer service at the building and, more importantly, building on the convenience of being easier to get to than the other New York City venues, especially for New Jersey residents.
“There’s not pride in being the best kept secret in the market,” O’Neil said. “I'm really jacked up about what we can do with this thing. It doesn’t mean we don’t have issues or problems — this is a turnaround in the greatest sense. But we’ve already come a very long way. And we’re willing to make the investments to get it right.”
Interviewed for this article: Scott O'Neil, (973) 757-6000